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First, he’d never responded with such need to a simple touch. And to know it was her first…that did things to a man. A possessive need to claim her as his own need pumped through his veins. And when she’d promised not to tell anyone, not to attempt to trap him in marriage…
How could she have known that he needed to hear that? He needed to know this wasn’t an attempt to become a marquess’s wife but just a kiss shared between two people.
But that shouldn’t matter at all.
He would take a wife. One that he’d carefully chosen and they’d build a future based on mutual interest and shared children.
Still, he couldn’t deny the attraction between them, the primal urges she effortlessly invoked.
Jealousy, desire, a need to touch her whirled through him. He tamped down his urges with great difficulty. Now was not the time to act on his impulses. He’d only just met her yesterday. “We should catch up to Chase and Ophelia before they worry,” he said, breaking their tenuous connection.
She nodded and they started down the path, a silence falling between them.
Chase and Ophelia had stopped up ahead. “There you are,” Ophelia called. “Is everything all right?”
Juliet waved her hand in a wide arc. “Fine. Absolutely fine.”
Ophelia dropped her chin, staring at her sister. “Are you sure?”
“I got a rock in my slipper. Lord Hartwell helped me remove it.”
He drew his brows together, watching her face. Juliet’s voice grew louder with every word. What had gotten into her?
Ophelia’s lips pressed together but she didn’t say more as she and Chase turned and continued down the path.
The silence between them had grown heavy and, wishing to b
reak it, he grasped about, looking for something to discuss. Anything that might break the tension. Staring at the cliff, he noticed what looked to be a cave. “Is that what I think it is?” he asked, pointing.
Juliet looked up, following his finger. “If you think it’s a sea cave, then yes.”
“Can you get into it?” he asked, his boyish curiosity taking over.
She shook her head. “Not that one. It’s too high and there isn’t enough of a ledge to reach it from the path. There are others, further down the beach but they are dangerous for different reasons.”
“What reasons are those?”
She pointed to the water. “In about two hours, the tide will swallow nearly all of the beach here. But further down, it will disappear entirely and the water will rise up the cliff, covering the lower caves.” She looked over to him. “They are fun to explore but it is best done at low tide.”
He nodded. “That makes sense. This place is full of beauty. I’ll say that.”
“I loved growing up here. It was the happiest of childhoods before my mother passed. And even after. Ophelia soothed so much of our hurt.”
“You’re lucky to have such a sister. Will you miss her when she marries Chase?”
Juliet nodded. “Very much. But I hear they are discussing the purchase of a place near here. Then Ophelia will be close to us and Chase not far from you.”
He stopped, some sort of pain tightening his chest. “Chase plans to build his new family in close proximity to me?” The more he learned, the more he realized Ophelia didn’t seem to be tricking or stealing his cousin. She was building a life that revolved around both her family and his. “Can I confess to you that I am starting to see the merit in their relationship?”
She gave him a large grin, slipping her hand into his arm and giving his biceps a squeeze. “Dare I hope to convince you that they are in love?”
Dane shook his head. “Now you are pushing.”
She laughed, a sound he was growing to adore. “Fine. I will settle for my tiny victory.”
The path opened up onto the beach, the sound of the waves, filling his ears. “Now wait until you see our little hideaway.” Juliet yelled over the roaring noise. “We played here endlessly as children.”
He stopped, staring out at the water. “Chase mentioned it yesterday.”
